Category Archives: Macau

The growth of the Portuguese economy is expected to slow to 4% this year and 2.1% in 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which in the World Economic Outlookreleased on Tuesday, cut its outlook for Portugal.

According to the updated world economic forecasts, the IMF lowered its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth outlook for Portugal by 1.1 percentage points (pp) this year, to 4%, from the 5.1%forecast in October.

The institution, chaired by Kristalina Georgieva,also cut its growth projection for 2023 to 2.1%, from 2.5% in October.

The IMFis nowthe most pessimistic institution among the main national and international institutions about Portuguese GDP expansion this year.

The Portuguese government predicts growth of 4.9%, as does the Bank of Portugal, while the Public Finance Council estimates an expansion of 4.8%.

The European Commission sees Portuguese GDPclimbingby 5.5% and the OECD by 5.8%.

According to the forecasts published today, the IMF also expects the Portuguese current account balance to rise from -1.1% of GDP in 2021 to -2.6% in 2022, dropping to -1.4% in 2023.

The IMF also forecasts that the unemployment rate will be 6.5% this year andfall slightly to 6.4% in 2023.

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Portugal; IMF growth outlook revised down to 4 pct this year - Macau Business

Over half of South Korean people said women are still treated unequally to men, a government survey showed Tuesday.

According to the quinquennial poll by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, 53.4 percent of respondents said South Korea is an unequal society for women in 2021. It was down from 62.6 percent tallied five years ago.

The poll was conducted last year on 8,358 people, including 4,351 women and 4,007 men, aged 15 or higher.

Female respondents in their 20s and 30s who thought that the country is not an equal society for women stood at 73.4 percent and 76.8 percent respectively, while the figures for male respondents in their 20s and 30s reached 29.2 percent and 40.7 percent each.

Those who said men are treated unequally to women reached 6.7 percent of female respondents and 17.0 percent of male respondents each.

Of the total, 68.9 percent said wives fully or mainly undertake household chores and childcare in the family.

Those who said men should be a main breadwinner of families came in at 29.9 percent of the total respondents in 2021, down from 42.1 percent in 2016.

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Half of S.Koreans say women treated unequally to men: survey - Macau Business

The Chief Executive (CE), Ho Iat Seng, will visit Hainan to take part in the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022, the Government Information Bureau has announced in a statement.

According to the same statement, the CE will attend the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum set to take place tomorrow (April 21) as well as lead a Macau delegation, which will be in Hainan Province today and tomorrow to attend the Forum.

The event this year is themed The World in COVID-19 & Beyond: Working Together for Global Development and Shared Future. It features six modules, namely: a summary of the global experience in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and an exploration of how to narrow the vaccine gap; trends in the world economy; recovery of green industry and sustainable development; the promotion of the long-term healthy development of the digital economy; international cooperation and global governance; and new developments for regional cooperation in Asia.

Delegates from governments, business, academia, and the media, who come from all over the world, will gather to discuss the post-pandemic development agenda for Asia and the world. They will focus on topics such as green development, innovative development, inclusive development, and collaborative development, with the aim of promoting international solidarity and cooperation. The Forum will include in-person as well as online events.

The Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Peoples Republic of China in the Macau Special Administrative Region, Liu Xianfa, will join the local delegation as an adviser.

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MACAU DAILY TIMES CE in Hainan to attend Boao Forum - Macau Daily Times

A mentally disabled Malaysian man will be hanged in Singapore next week after losing a last-ditch appeal, his sister said Wednesday, despite an international outcry about his case.

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, which has some of the worlds toughest drugs laws, and handed a death sentence the following year.

But the plan to hang him sparked widespread criticism due to concerns about his intellectual disabilities, with the European Union and British billionaire Richard Branson among those condemning it.

After a years-long legal battle, the 34-year-old lost his final appeal last month, when judges rejected arguments that executing a man with mental disabilities contravenes international law.

His family has now been informed he will be executed on Wednesday next week, his sister Sarmila Dharmalingam told AFP.

Family members, including his mother and three siblings, will travel to the city-state to see him beforehand, she said.

M. Ravi, a Singapore-based human rights lawyer assisting in the case, said the news of Nagaenthrans looming execution was heartbreaking.

The Singapore state will never be able to recover from the disgrace its going to face internationally in hanging an intellectually disabled person, he said in a social media post.

Last month, the city-state conducted its first execution since 2019 when it hanged a drug trafficker, and fears are growing that several more people will be put to death in the coming months.

As well as Nagaenthran, three other men convicted of drugs offences have had their final appeals rejected.

Nagaenthran was arrested at the age of 21 after a bundle of heroin weighing about 43 grams (one and a half ounces) equivalent to about three tablespoons was found strapped to his thigh as he sought to enter Singapore.

Supporters say he has an IQ of 69 a level recognised as a disability and was coerced into committing the crime.

Singapore maintains the death penalty for several offences, including drug trafficking and murder, and insists it has helped to keep the city-state one of Asias safest places.

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Singapore to hang mentally disabled man next week: family - Macau Business

Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to hear the first verdict in one of her corruption trials next week, a source close to the case told AFP Tuesday, where she faces a possible 15 years in jail.

The Nobel laureate has been detained since her government was forced out in a coup last year that triggered mass protests, and she faces a raft of charges that could see her sentenced to more than 150 years in jail.

The 76-year-old has already been handed a six-year sentence for violating Covid-19 rules and walkie-talkie import regulations, but this is the first of her corruption cases to return a verdict.

The junta court is expected to rule Monday on the allegation that she took a bribe from former Yangon chief minister Phyo Min Thein, a source with knowledge of the case told AFP. A guilty verdict could mean a sentence of up to 15 years.

Journalists are barred from the proceedings and her lawyers have been banned from speaking to the press.

In November, she and 15 other officials, including Myanmars former president Win Myint, were also charged with alleged electoral fraud during the 2020 elections.

Since the coup, many of her political allies have been arrested, with one chief minister sentenced to 75 years in jail. Others have gone into hiding.

Under a previous junta regime, Suu Kyi spent long periods under house arrest in her family mansion in Yangon.

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Myanmar's Suu Kyi expects first verdict in corruption case - Macau Business

Sands Chinas president, Wilfred Wong has stated that Sands China has fired more than 3,000 non-local workers since the start of the pandemic. Although he did not reveal the number of local workers that were laid off, he confirmed that 75% of the current employees are Macau residents.

The Labor Affairs Bureau (DSAL) published its figures in February and they state that the number of non-local workers that are employed by the six concessionaires in Macau has fallen by 32.6% since COVID-19 took the world by storm. Moreover, 11,434 non-local workers have left.

While commenting on Sands Chinas case, Wong stated that even though non-local employees have been reduced, the company is putting a lot of effort into its local workforce as it kept them employed and maintained training programs.

He also added that the number of incoming tourists might not change during Labor Day, which is why the company needs to make sure that it lowers its operating expenses. Recently, Macau concessionaires paid almost $6 million to extend their licenses and make them valid throughout 2022.

Wong commented on Sands Chinas investments during this period and stated that if the current condition continues, non-urgent development investments will be delayed and the main focus will be on urgent maintenance matters.

While speaking about the current situation at Macaus six concessionaires, DSAL informed everyone in February that it will ensure that local people get the advantage of being employed at casinos. Moreover, it stated that it will review the conditions of the labor market to regulate the number of non-local workforce.

As for future employment opportunities, DSAL stated that local employees will maintain this advantage. The statement read that if theres a suitable or sufficient number of local workers for all relevant job positions, applications by non-locals wont be approved. Alternatively, companies will have to lay off non-local workers if they want to employ other non-locals.

Macau concessionaires are neck-deep in trouble as a Morgan Stanley report revealed that they are running low on cash. According to the report, the quarterly losses have reached $800 million. Sands China has about nine months worth of cash.

Thomas Allen, Praveen Choudhary, and Gareth Leung, Morgan Stanley analysts, have stated that at this stage, survival is key. They added that acquiring new debt is an option, but the current bond yield will make that option expensive. Chinas zero COVID policy does not help them in any way, as well. Restrictions are extremely explicit and they are the reason why the 2022 G2E Asia has been moved to Singapore for the first time in history.

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Sands China Let Go of 3,000 Non-local Workers since the Start of the Pandemic - GamblingNews.com

An absence of rapid progress towards economic diversification means Macaus Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2025 and leaves the economy overly vulnerable to further shocks, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund.

The Staff Report, prepared for the Executive Board of the IMF following discussions with the Macau SAR, was published this week and outlines the citys expected recovery trajectory.

Having seen GDP decline by 54% in 2020 before expanding by 18% last year, the IMF expects expansion by a further 15.5% in 2022 and 23% in 2023 before converging to its long-term potential of around 3.5% over the medium term. The recovery, it said, will be driven by the gradual return of foreign tourists and the recovery of domestic demand.

However, the IMF also noted that the collapse of [Macaus] economic activity [in 2020], mostly on account of weak services exports, highlighted [the] Macau SARs overreliance on the gaming industry.

Warning that Macau remained vulnerable to a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which would undermine the mediumterm viability of the gaming sector, the IMF said a multiprong package of structural reforms is needed to bridge the gap in skill composition and overcome barriers to economic diversification. Advancing the governments diversification agenda will require investments in skill building and infrastructure, including for digital infrastructure, enhancing the effectiveness of public institutions, and improving business environment. The integration with the GBA provides opportunities for [the Macau] SAR to access a larger pool of skilled labor and offshore some economic activities.

The cooperation between different government agencies responsible for the diversification agenda should be strengthened to enhance the effectiveness of the governments diversification efforts.

The need to diversify is further highlighted, according to the IMF, by uncertainty around proposed amendments to Macaus gaming law, which in combination with Chinas crackdown on cross-border gambling and subsequent collapse of the junket industry, clouds the outlook of the gaming sector.

Macaus recovery is expected to continue going forward, but it will take time before the economy fully regains pandemic-induced losses, it said.

The gradual return of foreign tourists and the strengthening of domestic demand will support the near-term recovery, while increasing investment linked to the issuance of new gaming concessions, and further integration with the GBA will boost medium-term growth.

However, given the depth of the economic losses during the pandemic, the level of GDP is expected to surpass its pre-crisis level only in 2025. In the absence of rapid progress towards economic diversification, the current account balance is set to return to pre-pandemic levels as tourists return to [the] Macau SAR.

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Macau gaming industry woes highlight need for economic diversification: International Monetary Fund - IAG - Inside Asian Gaming

(Ref. No.: FLL/MF/04/2022)

The University of Macau (UM) is an internationalized public comprehensive university in the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) located at the west bank of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The GBA is rapidly developing into one of the leading technology and innovation hubs of the world. UM is placed in 201-250 bracket in the THE World University Rankings and placed No. 322 in the QS World University Rankings in 2022. With a scenic campus of approximately 1 km2 on Hengqin island, UM has achieved significant progress in the past decade as evidenced by its rising international repute, state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities, and the establishment of three State Key Laboratories in microelectronics, Chinese medical sciences, and internet of things for smart city. To support economic diversification of MSAR and deepen collaboration between MSAR and Guangdong Province in Hengqin island, UM will continue to invest in cutting-edge research and develop interdisciplinary programmes in key strategic areas including precision oncology, advanced materials, regional oceanography, artificial intelligence and robotics, data science, cognitive and brain science and economics and finance. Leveraging its 4-in-1 model of education and the largest residential college system in Asia, UM provides all-round undergraduate education, nurturing talent to support social and economic development in MSAR and the GBA as a whole. With unprecedented growth and opportunities for development, UM offers promising career prospects to academics at all levels. It may be noted that English is the working language and the primary medium of instruction at UM.

Being a public university that bears a mission to serve the local community and the region, UM is committed to recruiting, nurturing and retaining qualified local talents as part of its efforts to contribute to Macaos future development. We plan to attract promising Macao natives to build a successful academic career at UM. The Faculty of Law invites applications for the UM Macao Fellow programme in major branch of Macau Law for a maximum period of 3 years.

The Faculty of Law of University of Macau is the oldest law school in Macao and plays a very important role in preparing jurists who are familiar with Macao S.A.R. legal system, as well as, educating jurists who are competent in legal research and practices in Macau law, international law and comparative law. The Faculty of Law presently offers undergraduate degrees and postgraduate degrees to both local and international students. More information about the Faculty is available at https://fll.um.edu.mo/.

Qualifications

Depending on the applicants academic qualification and experiences, the successful appointees will be appointed as Post-doctoral Fellow or Research Assistant Professor and will hold the functional title of UM Macao Fellow ().

The selected appointee is expected to assume duty in August 2022.

Remuneration

A taxable annual remuneration starting from MOP507,780 will be commensurate with the successful applicants academic qualification and relevant professional experience. The current local maximum income tax rate is 12% but is effectively around 5% - 7% after various discretionary exemptions.

Application Procedure

Applicants should visit https://career.admo.um.edu.mo/ for more details, and apply ONLINE on or before 7 May 2022. Applicants may consider their applications not successful if they are not invited for an interview within 3 months of application.

Office of the Vice Rector (Research)

University of Macau, Av. da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China

Website: https://rskto.um.edu.mo/mpf_mds/;Email: ummf@um.edu.moTel: +853 8822 4228; +853 8822 9425

The University of Macau reserves the right not to appoint a candidate.

***Personal data provided by applicants will be kept confidential and used for recruitment purpose only***

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UM Macao Fellow in Major Branch of Macau Law job with UNIVERSITY OF MACAU | 289848 - Times Higher Education

The Taliban prohibition on girls education shows the movements ultra-conservatives retain tight control of the Islamist group, and exposes a power struggle that puts at risk crucial aid for Afghanistans desperate population, experts say.

The ban has triggered international outrage and even left many in the Taliban movement baffled by the decision.

The order was devastating, a senior Taliban member told AFP. The supreme leader himself interfered.

All Taliban officials who spoke to AFP on the subject did so on condition of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the topic.

Secondary schools for girls were ordered to shut last month, just hours after being reopened for the first time since the Talibans return to power in August.

The shocking U-turn came after a secret meeting of the groups leadership in the city of Kandahar, the Talibans de facto power centre.

Officials have never justified the ban, apart from saying the education of girls must be according to Islamic principles.

But one senior Taliban official told AFP that Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and some other senior figures were ultra-conservative on this issue and dominated the discussion.

Two groups the urban and the ultra-conservatives have emerged in the movement, he said.

The ultra-conservatives have won this round, he added, referring to a group of clerics includingChief Justice Abdul Hakim Sharai, Minister for Religious Affairs Noor Mohammad Saqeb and Minister for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Mohammad Khalid Hanafi.

The clerics feel excluded from government decisions and voicing their opposition to girls education is one way to restore their influence, said Ashley Jackson, a London-based researcher who has worked extensively on Afghanistan.

She told AFP the outsized influence of this out-of-touch minority has prevented the country from moving ahead with something the vast majority of Afghans favour including much of the leadership.

It shows that Kandahar remains the centre of gravity for Taliban politics, said International Crisis Group analyst Graeme Smith.

A senior Taliban member said the hardliners were trying to appease thousands of fighters who hail from the deeply conservative countryside.

For them, even if a woman steps out of her home it is immoral. So, imagine what it means to educate her, he said.

The Taliban member said Akhundzada was against modern, secular education as he associated it with life under former Western-backed presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani.

Thats his worldview.

The Taliban returned to power last year as US-led forces ended an occupation in place since an invasion ousted the hardliners in 2001.

In the 20 years between the Talibans two reigns, girls were allowed to go to school and women were able to seek employment in all sectors, though the country remained socially conservative.

Activist and Islamic scholar Tafsir Siyaposh noted girls in Afghanistan have always studied in single-sex classes and followed an Islamic curriculum, so the ban shows the Taliban just wanted to oppress the rights of women by giving excuses.

A Taliban source in Pakistan confirmed differences at the leadership level on the issue, but said the movement was in no danger of fragmenting.

There is a debate on this issue but we are trying to overcome our shortcomings, he said.

Still, analysts say the ban was a blow to Taliban efforts to gain international recognition and to raise aid to address Afghanistans humanitarian crisis.

Jackson said neither Akhundzada nor those closest to him fully understood or appreciated the consequences of their edict for an international community that has linked official recognition to the groups respect for womens rights.

Even some senior Taliban officials agree.

We are telling them (the ultra-conservatives) that running a country is different from running a madrassa, said one Taliban official from Kandahar, using the term for an Islamic school.

Everything was going smooth until this harsh order came. And it came from our leader so we have to follow it but we are trying to change it, he said.

The ban reduces the willingness of governments to cooperate with the Taliban said the ICGs Smith.

It raises the question of who exactly they should speak with inside the Taliban.

by Jay DESHMUKH with Sajjad TARAKZAI in Peshawar

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Girls' education ban reveals deep rifts within Taliban - Macau Business

Three new highland barley varieties have been registered on Chinas list of non-major crop varieties approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, which permits an extensive promotion of the varieties.

The varieties are named Zangqing 20, Zangqing 17 and Zangqing 3000, according to the Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences, which bred them. Highland barley is a crucial food crop in southwest Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region.

Tang Yawei, deputy director of the academys institute of agriculture, said the successful breeding of the varieties is of great significance for ensuring Tibets food security and promoting rural revitalization.

Zangqing 17 had been tested growing in alpine areas at an altitude of 4,200 meters to 4,500 meters above sea level, with 320.5 kg in average yield per mu (about 0.07 hectare), 13.9 percent higher than that of the popular barley breed of Ximala 19, the academy said.

New breed Zangqing 3000 has been designated by the regional government for demonstrated planting in an area of 92,000 mu this year, close to 5 percent of the total highland barley planting area in Tibet. Its average yield was 291.1 kg per mu in experiments.

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New highland barley varieties registered on China's official list - Macau Business